Notes of Fleeting Light (3)

The milk tea was ready soon, and Xu An carried it back, though he walked a little too quickly.

"Junior brother, over here, over here~ Ah! Don't rush so much. Watch out, or you'll fall." Seeing Xu An return, Ye Shunguang rose from her seat and called out to him.

"Mm-hmm, I'm fine, senior sister! Which one do you want?" Xu An asked, then noticed Ye Shunguang's appraising gaze.

"Oh, oh, this one's strawberry milk tea, and this one's mango. Both are thirty percent sugar. I didn't get too much added, since I was worried you might not like things too sweet," Xu An said.

"Then I'll have strawberry~ But as long as you bought it, junior brother, I'll like it~" Ye Shunguang said with a smile.

"Hehehe, senior sister..." That single sentence had hooked Xu An into a grin. He really couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from rising.

Then he came back to his senses and found his senior sister watching him with a suppressed smile.

Chatting and laughing, the two soon reached Orchid's flower shop.

As Xu An looked at the flower shop before him, someone patted him on the back.

"Senior brother Xu An~ Why didn't you bring me along when you came out with senior sister~ Do you think I'm a third wheel~" Belle had appeared behind him at some point. Looking at her smiling face, Xu An felt something was a little off, as though she might come up and pound him into a meat patty the next second.

Xu An couldn't help shivering.

"Junior sister?! What are you doing here too?" Ye Shunguang was a little surprised to see Belle.

"Hehe, senior sister, I was shopping around here~ I happened to run into you two. Shall we go together~" As Belle spoke to Ye Shunguang, she wore a faint smile, but for some reason, she seemed... a little hostile?

Xu An: O_o? "Senior sister and I are, um, having some time for just the two of us. What are you butting in for!"

"What's wrong with time for the three of us? Or do you find me annoying, senior brother? You don't want to hang out with me, so you hate me, huh?" As Belle spoke, she was already preparing to attack Xu An. It seemed that if he refused, the flesh at his waist wouldn't have an easy time of it.

"Uh, haha, senior sister Xiaoguang~ How about we bring her along?" Xu An asked.

There seemed to be some struggle in Ye Shunguang's eyes, but they soon grew determined.

"Sure! Let's go arrange flowers together." As though she had mustered her courage, Ye Shunguang stepped straight forward and hugged Xu An's right arm.

Whoa!!? What's senior sister doing?

Xu An looked at his senior sister on his right and Belle, who immediately followed suit and hugged his arm on his left, feeling a little excited. OAO. So being in a shuraba felt this good.

"Let's go~ As it happens, your junior sister has helped out at this shop before, hmph-hmph (.-`ω´-)."

"Mmm~ The scent of flowers makes me want to wag my tail without even thinking. They smell so lovely~"

"You really like them, senior sister? I know the owner here. You can't go wrong buying from this shop. The quality's excellent."

Hearing the sounds outside, Orchid came out of the flower shop.

"Hmm? It's the video store manager. No customers had come in just now, so I went to sort out some flowers.

"The two customers beside you... seem a little unfamiliar. Is this your first visit here, sir, miss?" Orchid asked very politely.

"Ah? Yes... I've grown a few flowers myself, so I couldn't help stopping for yours," Ye Shunguang answered.

Xu An simply nodded lightly. After all, he wasn't quite used to being hemmed in on both sides.

Ye Shunguang didn't notice anything unusual about the person beside her and continued, "The flowers here are beautiful. Most importantly, they have the fragrance of flowers grown and tended with care."

"Hehe, it seems this customer knows quite a bit about the fragrance of fresh flowers," Orchid said courteously.

"Junior brother, junior sister, shall we pick out some bouquets together as gifts for Master and the others?" The idea suddenly occurred to Ye Shunguang, and she suggested it.

"No objections here," Xu An replied.

"Huh? Sure!" Belle was a little distracted, her gaze flickering slightly, as though she were planning something.

"Everyone should be very happy to receive these flowers!"

Then the three began choosing flowers.

As Ye Shunguang chose, she murmured, "Master likes flowers with a delicate fragrance. Senior sister Fufu likes ones that bloom brilliantly. Senior brother Pan likes ones he can knead into pastries... And my brother, too. He doesn't show it very clearly, but I know he likes flowers with soft colors..."

"You really know everyone well, senior sister..." Xu An said.

"Once you've spent enough time together, you naturally get to know them." Ye Shunguang smiled. "But I still don't know you very well, junior brother. You'll have to come see me more."

"No problem, senior sister, no problem ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)ᵒᵏᵎᵎᵎᵎ" Xu An grew excited at her words.

Watching Xu An from the side, Belle felt a little unwilling to concede.

"Come see me more too, senior brother. There are still some things Master taught that I don't understand, but I don't want to trouble her too much. She needs a good rest, so I'll have to trouble you more instead." Belle shook Xu An's hand as she spoke.

"No problem. You can definitely ask me about cultivation." Xu An readily agreed.

The two women's gazes met in midair for an instant, engaging in a contest before parting.

Xu An didn't notice anything amiss. He merely frowned at the flowers before him.

"Senior sister, junior sister, why don't you each prepare a pot of flowers for the other?"

"Hmm... Don't you want one, senior brother?" Belle asked.

"That's right. You need a pot of flowers as a gift too, junior brother."

"Hiss, I really don't know what any of these mean. I've never looked into it. Should I just put together whatever looks good?" Xu An murmured.

Seeing this, the two beside him stepped forward to show off their skills and began their flower-arranging journey.

Xu An gave it some thought, but couldn't come up with any good ideas.

He could only pick a few flowers he liked and put them in.

"A wooden flowerpot, king protea, Nineveh, snapdragons. Whatever's expensive." Xu An looked at his arrangement. Mm, it should look all right.

"Orchid, two of the same arrangement," Xu An said.

Orchid raised her eyebrows at Xu An's flower arrangement, but said nothing. He was foolish, loaded, and buying everything in sight, so she might as well fleece the fool for all he was worth. Weren't rich people exactly the ones to rip off?

Soon, all three had finished their arrangements. Ye Shunguang's gift for Xu An was a combination of Remembrance and snapdragons.

Looking at the flowers Belle and Ye Shunguang were giving Xu An, Orchid couldn't help pressing her lips together.

Things between these three seem a little complicated. Hiss, I wonder whether the manager will win. But from the looks of things now, it seems... the three have reached some kind of balance. Although New Eridu is all about enjoying life while you can, and having three wives and four concubines isn't out of the question, would the other manager really agree?

Orchid had already conjured up one love story after another in her mind, but her expression remained unchanged.

After seeing the three out of the shop, she watched their retreating figures. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. It's good to be young."

Then she shook her head and returned to the shop to continue sorting the flowers.

"Junior brother, come here. I'll tell you a secret." Ye Shunguang beckoned, signaling for Xu An to come closer.

Ye Shunguang brought her face close to Xu An's and whispered into his ear, "Actually, this is my first time arranging flowers with someone else~

"Even though we haven't spent that much time together, I keep feeling like we've known each other for ages... Just think of it as me talking nonsense!"

Feeling the warm breath spilling against his ear, Xu An felt his body tingle a little.

Then he coughed twice. "I wish we'd met sooner, senior sister."

Seeing that her junior brother seemed a little embarrassed, Ye Shunguang also realized she had been a little bold just now. She quickly pulled away and continued, "Is it because you're a senior sister from down the mountain, junior brother? When I'm with you, I often experience so many feelings I've never had before...

"Though I don't know how to describe these feelings in words... somehow, it feels like I can smell the fragrance of flowers in them." Ye Shunguang stared at the ground as she spoke, the corners of her mouth rising involuntarily.